Explosive-engine.



PATENTED MAR. 24, 1908.

G w GIBBS, JR EXPLOSIVE ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15,1907.

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' UNITED STATES BATEn OFFICE.

GEORGE wmnmnsemes, mx, or ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

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and I do hereby '1 The invention relates to explosive engines and more particular? to en es of the twocycle type, and has or its 0 ject to rovide an engine of the character descri ed, of

- greatly simplified construction, increased 7 econom plan view of the apparatus, parts of fiie same and reliability of operation, its object. eing attained by the construction and arrangement of scribed, by means of w ich scave' of the powezziyhnderis effected b pure air orcibly mjec into the c linder efore the admission of the fuel t ereto, the air bein admitted to the c linder near the end 0 the wer stroke 0 the piston and serving to i 've the burned gases completely from the .c linder throu h anexhaust valve located at it e rear end 0 the cylinder.

Figure 1 e form of 2 is a In the accompanying drawings is a sectional elevation of a sim l engine involving the invention;

eingshown in horizontal section.

Refe to the drawings, 0 indicates. the power cyhnder conveniently formed as a casting having a hollow bore of uniform diameter throu hout, and a removable cap or cylinder hes. a/ at the rear end thereof, which is provided with an exhaust conduit g to admlt of the esca e-of the products of.

combustion. Attache to the lower art of the cylinder is the crank casing .o, w 'ch is close by aca o',saidcasingbe' constructed as an air-tight closure to provide a chamher in which compression may be effected during the power stroke of the piston.

of the power cy PrO ecting rearwardly within the power cylinder 0 is acoaxial sleeve b, which may be conveniently formed as an integral part of the crank cas' attached to the lower end der a said sleeve fo with the law an annular chamber a whic is therefore of the'same diameter as said arts hereinafter de- -L Specification of Letters Patent. Application and November 16,1907. Serlsl so. was".

and to effect this purpose I provide a hollow trunk piston 0 having substantiall c' lindrical wallsr', the outer surface of w ic -engages the inner surface of the ower cylinder. and the inner surface of whic eng es the outer surface of the coaxial sleeve bftiereby causing the cylindrical body portion of said piston to serve as an auxlllary 'piston openatin in the annular chamber (1 to compress the y el or the air.- In the form of the invention illustrated, the annular chaniber'd re- Patented m a4, 1908. I

ceives the 'fuel which is admitted thereto by means of a suitable inlet 0, which, of course, will be provided with the usual form of check valve. To convey the gaseous fuel, which has been compressed in the annular chamber, to the powercylinder, I preferably provide a series of conduits f formed in the walls of thecylinder, opening at one end into the said annular chamber and at the other into the explosion chamber of the power cylinder 0 through ports f near the forward end of the piston travel. I Air. in appropriate quantities is admitted to the crank casing 0 through a suitable'inlet 8, which is likewise provided with an apropriate check valve, and communication is established between the crank casin .and the explosion chamber of the power cy der a by ducts g formed similarly to ducts f, said ducts q opening at one on into the crank casing an the explosion chamber near the orward end of the piston travel and a small distance to the rear of ports f The piston 0 1s provided with the usual form 0 connected with the crank shaft m suitably 'ournaled in the crank casing. The exaust valve k may. be operated by any appropriate means, as illustrated, a simple and common form of apparatus for this purpose consists of rocker arm '5 pivoted in a suitable bracket projecting from the cylinder head and" connected by rod 9' with a cam is on the crank shaft. J

Suitable packing a: is applied in the walls 0 of the piston c and, similar packing 'y is applied to the outer face of s eeve b.

The operation of the engine, as described, is substantially as follows During the rearward movement of the pistonc, gaseous fuel is drawn into the'annular chamberd byway of inlet 0 and at the same time a charge of air is sucked into the crank'casing 0 through inlet a. The charge, which had been preat the other through ports 1) into connecting rod 1, which in turn is forward travel, it

yiously admitted to the explosion chamber in cyhnder a, is compressed y the rearward movement of the piston and at an a ate time explode as will be we stood. ward or ower stroke, the check valves 1n 1nlets e an s are closed and the advance of the piston c comp,resses the gaseous fuel in annular chambe d and the air in crank caslng a. As the piston apgsoaches the end of its t uncovers ports p and establishes communication between the crank casin 0 and the interior of the cylinpro ritin erder behind t e piston. Just previous to this action, exhaust valve h is opened to permit a the exploded gases to escape, and the opening of exhaust valve h quickly reduces the pressure of the gases to that of the atmosphere. The uncovering of the ports 1) ermits the air, which has been compressed in crank casing o, to rush through passages and ports p mto the explosion chamber wit]? great force, driving the remaining products ofcombustion longitudinally of the cylinder andout of exhaust port 9, thereby com- 7 letely scavenging and cleaning the cyliner. Shortly after the ports p have been opened, piston c uncovers ports f, which cstablishes communication between the explosion chamber of the cylinder a and the annular compression chamber 65, and admits the compressed gaseous fuel to the explosion chamber, said fuel rushing into the cylinder and reinforcing the scavenging effort of the air from crank casing 0. The piston then-begins its rearward stroke and ports f and p are closed successively, the mixture of air and fuel in the explosion chamber is compressed, and ultimately exploded, and the operation repeated. It is to be particularl noted, however, that the air from the cran casing is admitted at a point where it is most effectlve in driving out the burned gases, namely, near the end of the forward stroke of the iston and between the piston and the bulk of the products of combustion, the pressure of which has been reduced by the opening of the exhaust, so that they are quickly expelled from the cylinder by the ejector-1i e action of the air which, in turn, is followed u by the gaseous fuel under pressure. e some 0 the air may escape with the products of combustion, the arrangement is such that none of the fuel is carried'out with the exhaust reason that a thick stratumo posed between the escaping gas and the enterin' fuel, and the exhaust valve being closec l as soon as a completescavenging has been' 'eifected. the ex losion chamber is left completely filled wit a mixture of pureair and gaseous fuel. p It will be apparent from the foregoing description that a thorough and. effective scavenging of the"explosion:- chamberfl'may be As soon as the piston begins its forgases, for the air is interefiected aftereachipower stroke ofthe pisj ton; the exhaust port being located at the, rear end of the piston, the hot exploded gases will tend toescape therefrom lmmediately the exhaust valve is opened without diffusing with the comparatively cold air admitted from the crank casin and by regulating the time and extent 0 opening of the i exhaust valve, the clearing of the cylinder -of the, roducts of combustion may be effected wit no appreciable loss of air and no loss whatever of .gaseousffuel.

As'stated, thea'nnular compression chamber may receive the air to be compressed,

and the crank casing will then receive the fuel or fuel and air, which arrangement is a more obvious reversal of that hereinbefore more particularly, set forth. Under these circumstances the relation of ports and p, preferably, will be reversed, as will e understood, that is to say, ports 7) will be located nearer the forward limit of the piston travel than ports f What I claim is: v

1. In an explosive en ine, the combination of a power cylinder aving an exhaust port at its rear end, a valve controllin the same, a fixed coaxial sleeve in said cyhnder forming a.compression chamber therewith and of the same diameter thereas, a hollowtrunk piston operating in said power cylinder and compression chamber, a crank casing in which compression is efiected by the piston, conduits connecting the crank casing and compression chamber, res ectively, with the power cylinder near the orward end of the piston travel, an inlet to the crank casing, and an inlet to the compression chamber.

2. In an explosive engine, the combination of a power cylinder having an exhaust port at its rear end, a valve controlling the same, a fixed coaxial sleeve connected to the forward end of said power cylinder and projecting within the same toform with the wallsthereof an annular compression chamber of the same diameter as said power cyl-' inder, a hollow trunk piston, the cylindrical walls of which engage the inner surface of V the power cylforming therewith an annular compression chamber of the same diameter thereas, a

- hollow'trunk piston operating'in the ower cylinder, the cylindrical walls of whic engage the inner surface of the power cylinder and the outer surface of said sleeve, a crank casing in which compression is effected by the piston, passages formed in the engine casing connecting the crank casing with the ower cylinder and the compresslon chamher with the power 0 linder, respectively, near the forward end of the piston travel, an inlet to the crank casing, and an inlet to'the compression chamber.

4. In an explosive engine, the combination of a power cylinder having an exhaust port at its rear end, a valve controlling the same, a fixed coaxial sleeve in said cylinder forming a compression chamber therewith, a

- hollow trunk piston operating in said power cylinder and compression chamber, a crank casing in which air is com ressed by the piston, conduits connecting t e crank casing and compression chamber, res ectively, with the power cylinder near the orward end of the piston travel, means for admitting air to the crank casing, and means for admitting fuel to the compression chamber.

5. In an explosive engine, the combinatiori of a power cylinder having an exhaust port at its rear end, a valve controlling the same, a fixed. coaxial sleeve connected to the forward end of said power cylinder and projecting within the same to form with the walls thereof an annular compression chamber, a hollow trunk piston, the cylindrical walls 01 which engage the inner surface of the power cylinder and the outer surface of said sleeve, a crank casing in which air is compressed by the piston, a conduit connectin the crank casing and power cylinder an opening into the latter near the forward end of the piston travel, a conduit connectin the compression chamber with the power cy inder' and opening into the latter at a point nearer the forward end of the piston stroke than the connection with the crank casing, means for admitting air to the crank casing, and means for admitting fuel to the compression chamber.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

-GEORGE WILLIAMS GIBBS, JR.

Witnesses:

CHARLTON G. OGBUBN, CAM D. DORSEY. 

